Museum of The Royal Carriages in Cairo - Egyptology

The Museum of The Royal Carriages in Cairo

About the Museum of Royal Carriages in Boulak

The Museum of Royal Carriages that is located in the neighborhood of Boulak in Cairo is considered to be one of the important Egyptian museums.

This museum displays the royal carriages of the family of Mohamed Ali, the founder of modern Egypt, and how he and his family members were quite fond of horses. The members of the last royal family in Egypt who ruled from the beginning of the 19th century and until the revolution of the year 1952 used to ride in these wonderful chariots in many different occasions including wedding ceremonies and in official processions.

The Establishment of the museum

The Museum of Royal Carriages is located in the 26th of July Street, just beside the historical mosque of Abu El Ellah, constructed in the middle of the 16th century.

The museum was established during the ruling period of Khedive Ismail in the last quarter of the 20th century, who was the first one to think of founding a special building to host the royal carriages and horses.

This building was called the "Department of the Khedive Carriages" when it was first established and then the name was modified to become the "Management of the Royal Stables" which was one of the three managements that used to follow the instructions of the "Department of the Khedive Carriages".

With many different periods of time passing by, the building was transformed to become the "Museum of Royal Carriages" because it used to host the carriages, horses, and even their ornaments that used to belong to the members of the royal family in Egypt.

The museum also hosted the horses of the Khedive and other horses that were owned by the other royal family members. Experts and doctors and veterinarian were brought from all over the world to take care of the horses. This is besides the skillful workers who used to maintain and restore the royal carriages.

The "Department of the Khedive Carriages" didn't only manage the horse carriages of the Khedive and his family, but also used to take care of the automobiles of the family that used to own valuable expensive cars from different world class brands like Citroen, Ford, and Cadillac.

In the past the building of the museum used to consist of different sections; the first was for the horse carriages, the second was for the horses stable, the third was a veterinarian clinic, the forth was a complete ambulance office, and the last section was specified for the workers to live and sleep.

In 1969, the governorate of Cairo took around three quarters of the surface area of the Museum of Royal Carriages and transformed it into a garage. Afterwards in 1978, some of the most remarkable carriages and uniforms were chosen to be put on display and the rest of the items were stored in special warehouses.

The museum used to have a large open courtyard and this was where the royal carriages were prepared before the khedive or any of his family members ride in any of them.

The description of the museum

The façade of the Museum of Royal Carriages consists of architectural portraits in the shape of horses' heads and it was more than 15 meters high forming a notable scene in one of the less touristic neighborhoods of Cairo.

The museum hosts vertical geometrical trims that are remarkable and wonderful models of artificial horses that were used to explain the muscular anatomy of the horse.

The Museum of Royal Carriages exhibits around 78 historically valuable royal carriages. 22 carriages of this collection were gifts that were presented to the rulers of Egypt since the reign of Khedive Ismail and until the ruling period of King Farouk by the kings and emperors of Europe.

Among the most important carriages that were presented to the rulers of Egypt as gifts is the carriage that was given by Napoleon III and the Queen Eugene to the Khedive Ismail in the ceremony of the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Khedive Ismail has used this royal carriage during his wedding ceremony.

Another notable example of this wonderful collection of carriages is the Cuban carriage that was used by the Queen and other family members during the opening conference of the parliament.

During the reign of King Fouad, who ruled Egypt from 1917 till 1922, the carriages were used to transfer the ambassadors and the consuls of foreign countries during their journey in Egypt.

Moreover, the royal carriage that was given to Khedive Ismail as a gift from the Queen Eugene was used to transfer the kings, queens, and emperors of Europe and other nations during their trips in Egypt.

The Museum of Royal Carriages also has 7 galleries and 20 glass cupboards to preserve and display different types of uniforms that were used in royal protocols, leather outfits, the ornaments that the horses used to wear, oil colored paintings, and a large collection of geometrical drawings that illustrate the structural formations of carriages. This is besides 8 models of human beings made out of plaster to show the outfits and uniforms.

The Museum will host 13 of the total number of royal carriages. This is besides thousands of other items that the people working with the carriages used to wear and use.

The sections of the Museum of Royal Carriages

The administration of the museum has given special attention to the organization of the displays in order to highlight how important were the carriages and the horses in official royal processions, picnics, funerary, and wedding ceremonies.

The museum will be exhibiting all the outfits, gadgets, and tools that the workers in the royal stables used. This besides a large number of outfits, uniforms, and horses saddles that are put on display

Furthermore, there will be a specific section for the saddles and the ornaments of the horses. There will be many historical lamps that were used to light the royal stables as well and the whips that were used to tame the horses.

Another section of the Museum of Royal Carriages will be dedicated to the uniforms of the people who used to work in the royal stables and the drivers of the carriages. Some of these uniforms are quite remarkable with a lot of decorations and wonderful colors.

The museum will also contain an explanation of how the workers took care of the royal carriages and the horses in the stables, a description of the royal processions, the carriages, how were they ornamented, and many different photos of various scenes from the royal stables.

There will be an introductory hall for the visitors displaying and illustrating the history of the museum. Afterwards, the guests will enter inside the major hall of the museum that hosts two wonderful royal carriages and some other carriages that used to belong to princesses and queens.

The second floor of the Museum of Royal Carriages will display the outfits and accessories. There will also be a special section in the second floor of the museum which will be dedicated to the children to simply explain to them the idea around the establishment of the museum.

This section will contain some of the kids' carriages that small horses used to move. Maybe in the future, the children who will visit the museum will be able to ride in some of the carriages that used to belong to the children of the last royal family of Egypt.

A whole section of the museum will be dedicated to the carriages that were given to Khedive Farouk as gifts from European kings and emperors. The most notable carriage in this section is a wonderful carriage that was ornamented with special white bamboo and it was brought to King Farouk from Hungary in 1934

Another section of the museum will display temporary exhibits that would change from time to time. This will display the carriages and the items that were used in certain occasions like wedding ceremonies.

The Restoration of the Museum of Royal Carriages

The restoration work of the Museum of Royal Carriages has started in the year 2003 with a decision from Zahi Hawas, the director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities who believed that the museum is in big need of some extensive restoration and renovation works.

Although the restoration work should have been completed and the museum should have been opened for public in 2011, the revolution of the 25th of January and the political events that followed postponed the opening of the museum.

The restoration of the museum has also faced some financial problems because the private company which was responsible for the restoration and renovations works refused to continue its work because they haven't received the payment for the first stage of the work until now.

After the presidential elections and with matters getting calmer in Egypt, the whole Egyptian community hopes that the Museum of the Royal Carriages would son open its gates to welcome guests and function as one of the places of interests that attract tourists from all over the world to visit Egypt.